Looking Back On The WCW / NJPW Event In North Korea: 25 Years Later

The Show's Origins

The man who came up with the idea to hold a massive pro wrestling event in North Korea was WWE Hall Of Famer Antonio Inoki. You see Inoki was a politician and a scandal involving himself and the Japanese Yakuza had put his re-election to the Japanese Congress in doubt.

In 1994 Inoki felt like he had to do something big to win over the Japanese public. He was the owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling at the time and felt that coming together with WCW to hold an event and Korea would create huge publicity and help his election hopes. Eric Bischoff who was WCW president agreed to hold the event. At this stage he was still playing catch up to the WWE and saw this as a chance to gain huge publicity for his company.